Vacuum sealer for screw cap containers



y 1933. J; J. WILLIAMS 1,908,003

' VACUUM SEALER FOR SCREW CAP CONTAINERS I Filed Dec. 1 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS.

May 9, 1933. J. J. WILLIAMS I VACUUM SEALER FOR SCREW CAP CQNTAINERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1928 IN VE{V TOR. flnJWZzQMS;

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II I .1%!- l I ATTORNEYS.

' May 9, 1933. I J. J. WILLIAMS I 1,908,003

VACUUM SEALER FOR SCREW CAP CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 17, ,1928 s Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 9, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN J. Q1 WHEEI-ING, WEST VIRGINIA, .ASSIG'NOB T HAZEL-ATLAS cuss 00., OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA, A. CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

VACUUM SIQALEB FOR SCREW GAP (IONTAIN'ERS Application filed December 17, 1928. Serial 1%. 826,520.

The present invention relates to vacuum sealers and has for its primary ob ect to rovide a construction by means of whic a indicated, which is adjustable to accommodate containers of various heights and diameters and which may also be readily adjusted to vary the amount of force with which the screw caps arerotated to sealing position.

Another object of the invention consists in the construction of a vacuum sealer, for screw cap containers, which is not only strong and durable in operation but also is entirely automatic except the steps of placing the containers in the vacuum compartment and closing the door.

. Other objects'and advanta es of the invention will be apparent from t e followin description when taken in connection wit the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus.

' Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on a plane at an angle of 90 to that of Figure '30 1; parts being shown in elevation.

Figure 3 is a. vertical sectional view through one of the sealing heads taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view 85 taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

- The apparatus, which comprises essentially a vacuum chamber 1 and a frame or superstructure 2, will preferably be mounted on a base or pedestal 3 in convenient reach of the operator whose duty it is to chargethe chamher 1 with the containers 4 to be sealed;

In the present embodiment of the invention the apparatus is intended to vacuumize and seal ten containers 4, of the screw cap type, at each cycle of operation, and tothis 1 end a tray 5 is provided in which a removable spacer 6 is mounted for the purpose of centering each, of the containers under its respective sealing head to be later described. A,

door 7 having a suitable sealing sket 8 serves to permit the entrance and wit drawal of tray 5, and is connected up with'the air pump (not shown) by means of lever 9, so as to start the exhausting of air from chamber 1 through pipe 10 immediately uponthe 1 closing of the door 7.

In order to retain the containers 4 against movement during the operation of rotating the screw caps into sealing position, each of the trays 5 is provided with a that 11 of rubher or the like, on which the containers rest and which serves to frictionally hold them against rotation. Likewise, each of the individual sealing heads 12 is provided with a friction pad 13 for grip ing the screw caps 4' when the latter are to e rotated into sealin position as hereafter described.

he sealinglheads 12 ate rotatably mount ed on a main card 14 which is fixedly secured at 14' to a vertically adjustable frame 15 threaded to a sleeve 16; In order to revent any rotative movement of the bee 14 it is desirable to provide a sliding connection between it and the wall of chamberl. To this end the head is provided with a tongue 14 which projects between the abutments 14" fastened to the interior of the chamber wall. The heads 12, as more clearly indicated in Figure 3, are connected with their driving sleeves 18 by pins 17 screwed securely into the sleeves and the pins are provided with squared lower ends on which are mounted the heads 12. The sleeves are provided with ball races 19 to reduce friction between the parts during the sealing op eration. A coil spring 20 surrounds each of the pins 17 and has its ends in contact with the sleeve 18 and head 12, thereby normally and resiliently holding the head in its lowermost position. Rotative movement is imparted to each head 12 by means of a driving gear 21, and this gear is provided with a cone portion 22 which is received in a complementary seat 23 in the sleeve 18,-so; as to provide a friction clutch between these elements. Pin 17 extends upwardly through the cone 22, and the frictional contact between the. elements 2% and 23 is increased by means of a coil spring 24 which aurruunds m the' upper end of pin 17 and has its respectiveends in contact with cone 22 and a washer 25 mounted on the pin and held in position by nut 26. The compression on spring 24 andhence the degree of friction in the clutch members 2223 may be varied by adjustment of the nut 26 in the proper direction.

The drivin gears 21 and their frictional- 1y associated eads 12 are intermittently rotated by means of a master gear 27 and. intermediate gears 28 and 29'so that all of the heads will be rotated in the same direction. Gear 27 is mounted on a squared sleeve 30 which is fixed to a driving shaft 31 by means of a screw bolt 32. This shaft'31 passes upwardly into the interior of'the hollow ex-- teriorily threaded sleeve 16 and is splined to a shaft 33 which is operated through reduction gearing 34 by motor 35. The shafts of the motor 35 and the reduction gearing 34 are releasably connected bymeans of a clutch mechanism 36 which will now be briefly described.

Keyed to the motor shaft is a disc 37 which is adapted to cooperate with a disc 38 associated with the shaft of the reducing gear. This latter disc is keyed for sliding movement on a sleeve 39 which is itself keyed to the shaft of the reducing gear. Coil spring 40 surrounds sleeve 39 and has its ends seated respectively on an end of said sleeve and on the disc 38 so as to normally hold the disc 38 spaced from its cooperating disc 37 on the motor shaft. The casing for the clutch comprises a section 41 which is provided with a bracket portion 41' bolted to the frame 2 and a section 42 which is threaded to part 41 as indicated at 43. .The casing section 42 is in engagement with the disc 38 and when rotated on the threads 43 will roject the disc into frictional engagement with the disc 37 against the pressure of the spring 40. Ball bearing races are provided, as indicated. Rotative movement may be imparted to section 42 by means of a ring 44 which is adjustably fixed to this section by a screw 45 adapted to seat in any one 'of a series of depressions formed in the periphery of the ring.

It is desirable, of course, that the clutch 36 be automatically operated and to this end the ring 44 has pivotally connected thereto at 46, an arm 47 which is in turn connected to a lever 48 which raises and lowers the sealing head. A spring 49 preferably encircles the lower end of rod or arm 47 and has its ends abutting a collar on the rod and a stud 47 by which the rod is connected to lever 48. By this arrangement the spring will take up any shock between the parts and afford a .more gradual operation of the clutch.

The operating lever. '48 briefly referred to above is pivoted to the top of the sealing chamber 1 by means of a link 50. The intermediate portion of the lever is pivoted on bosses 51 formed on a ring 51 which is fixed to a sleeve 52. v This sleeve surrounds the combined and extensible shaft 31-33 and is threaded to the hollow sleeve 16 which supports the head frame 15. Hand wheel 53 is keyed to the sleeve 52, and by rotating the same the position of the head 15 may be varied to accommodate the apparatus to containers of different heights. The opposite end of the lever 48 is pivoted to a connecting rod 54, which is controlled, in any desired or well known manner, by the extent of vacuum in chamber 1. When the desired degree of vacuum is attained in chamber 1, the rod will be moved downwardly so as to bring the sealing heads 12 into engagement with the caps of the containers which have been previously placed in the tray 5 and positioned in the chamber. This downward movement of lever 48 will, through the medium of rod 47, impart a rotary movement to ring 44 and clutch casing section 42 so as to engage the discs of the clutch 36, and thus cause a rotation of the heads 12 through the intermediate gearing.

The operation of the device is as follows, it being assumed that the hand wheel has been rotated in the proper direction so as to adjust the head 1415 to a position best suited to the particular containers being sealed; and that the springs 24 on the indi vidual sealing heads have been adjusted to give the desired frictional engagement between cone 22 and driving sleeve 18, so that the correct amount of rotative force will be applied to the screw caps. These caps are placed on the containers prior to their insertion in the chamber, and preferably are partly screwed thereon. The containers 4 are placed in a tray 5 having the proper spacer 6 mounted therein, and the tray is slid into the chamber 1' with the containers centered below the individual heads 12. The operator now closes the door 7, and in this movement of the door the link 9 starts the o eration of 4. 'The extent of the pressure on caps 4' will,

of course, depend upon the strength of springs 20 and the particular adjustment of head 14-15 with respect to the caps. As the lever 48brings down the head 1415 it also, through the medium of rod 47, operates the clutch so as to cause the motor 35 to rotate shaft 3133 and thus impart a rotary movement to the individual heads 12. The containers 4 together with their caps 4, it will be noted, are gripped between the rubber pad 11 on the bottom of tray 5 and the pads 13 on the indlvidual sealing heads; consequently tinue. After the caps are screwed to scaling position, the chamber 1 will be opened to atmosphere by any desired means (not shown),

and the door 7 moved to open position to permit the removal of the tray 5 and its replacement by another tray of containers to.

be sealed.

From the above description considered connection with the drawings it will be ap-' parent to those skilled the art that I have provided a vacuum sealer for screw cap conta1ners-,wh1ch 1s comparatively simple in construction and operation. It will also be observed that the mechanism such as will not readily become disorganized when subjected plurality of rotatable to the rough usages to which such devices are exposed, and that due to the several refinements disclosed hereinthe device is not only adaptable to various sizes of containers but is also providedwith means by which the amount of pressure used in sealing the container and consequently the amount of force required in its removal may be varied to suit the trade.

While I have described herein the preferred embodiment of the invention, as required by the patent statutes, nevertheless it is to be 7 understoodthat various changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all such possible alterations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. What I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A vacuumizer for screw cap containers, includin a vacuum chamber, a vertically reciprocab e head frame within the chamber, a

plurality of rotatable sealing heads carried by the frame, sealing head, a master gear, rotatingthemaster r.-

.t 2. A -vacuumizer or screw cap containers, including a vacuum chamber, a vertically re- .ciprocab e head frame a gear amociated with each and for heads earned y the frame,a gear associa means justing the height.

. plurality of sealing-heads carried head frame,

a master gear-for all of the sealing heads in the same direction, maxtensible shaft for themaster gear,

the chambena J with'each seal-.

ing head, a masterdgear, means for rotating the master for, an for verticall adad framefor ware of di, erent within the chamber, a'

scalin head adapted to be moved in the vacuum c amber into engagement with a screwcap, a shaft for rotating the sealing head, a clutch associated with the shaft, and means for automatically rendering the clutch operative as the sea head moves-downward.

5. A. vacuumizer or screw cap containers, including a-vacuum chamber, a rotatable sealing head adapted to be moved'in the vacuum chamber into engagement with a screw cap, a shaft for rotating the sealing head, a clutch associated with the shaft, and means for antomati'cally rendering the clutch inoperative as the sealing head moves upward.

6. A vacuumizer for screw cap containers, including a vacuum chamber, a rotatable sealinghead adapted tobe moved into engagement with a screw cap, a shaft for rotatin the sealing head, a motor for driving sai shaft, a clutch between the motor and the shaft, means for automatically operating the clutch, and means for adjusting the clutch.

7. A vacuumizer for screw cap containers,

including a vacuum chamber, a vertically rev sociated with the first-mentioned means, and

means operatively connecting the secondmentioned means with the clutch.

9. A vacuumizer for screw cap containers, includin a vacuum chamber, a rotatable seal-' ing hea adapted to reciprocate in the vac.- uum chamber, means for rotating the head, means for reciprocating the head, a clutch associated with the. first-mentioned means, means operatively connecting the secondmentioned means with the clutch, and means for adjusting the clutch.

4 a JOHN J. WIILIAMS.

a vacuum chamber, a rotatable sealno I III 

